Chương 34: Book 2 Chapter Thirty-One: Final Day

THIRTY-ONE"Finally," Roan groaned as the high dissipated enough that he didn't feel like giggling when he stood up. Whatever boosts he'd received from the body temper must have settled enough that he could function again. Roan slipped the amulet over his head and sighed in disappointment. He had grown accustomed to the continuous stream of vitality that flowed from the amulet into him. It had helped him through the first level and through the first few days on the second, but that flow had stopped.

When the glow had deepened to burning orange, he'd had a feeling it would go like that.

"You all done?" Billie asked from off to the side of the cave. She had been leaning against the side of the cave for an hour now, just watching him with a detached expression.

"Yeah. What's up?" Roan stretched and felt something pop in his back. Even sitting hunched over for hours he felt surprisingly good. The sun would be rising soon and nobody had come from the village yet so he assumed they'd had some type of victory." That or they all died. But if they died we're fucked, so don't think like that." With his Passenger asleep he finally realized how much it had shaded his thoughts. The incessant whispers urging him on, forcing him to continue.

"Everybody has evacuated who wants to evac. Those who are staying are mostly guards and people who want to continue practicing their skills. When the sun rises will you take them back to the village so they can use the chambers?"

"Of course. You're not going?"

"No. I'll be working over here and watching over this area." Billie's voice was curt and it didn't take a genius to figure out she wasn't in the best of moods.

"Spill it. What's the matter?"

"What's the matter? You showed up on the last level, took our money, disappeared with the manuals, then didn't look for us. Then when we show up, you spin out this Support Guild idea where we've all become something one step above servants. And then you ask me what's the matter?"

"When you put it like that, I do sound like a dick." Roan couldn't deny it, he'd gone to them to leverage their desperation to ensure his own survival and gather more power. Then he'd done it again when he'd seen them arrive battered and nearly broken.

"You are a dick."

"I am a dick. But?"

"But what?"

"I heard the but there. You wouldn't be staring at me like this if you didn't want something. Or was this just a venting session?" Roan could see how her pupils dilated, the clogged pores on her faces, and smell the last meal she'd eaten. He really wanted to go back and see the update to his stats. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"You're not one of them. That's all I got left. I can see how they look down their noses at us. They came here for a purpose and they'll use us up and throw us away without a second thought."

"Darren will for sure." Billie ground her heel in the dirt and sighed again, wiped at her eyes. She looked tired.

"Just keep us in mind, will you?"

"I can do that," Roan said. Billie nodded and walked to the front of the cave and the defenses built there. Roan wandered down the cave, leaving their conversation behind him and headed toward the depths of the cavern. While the cavern was wide and long, it eventually narrowed. There was nobody back here, the light from the fires not reaching this far back and nobody felt comfortable in a pitch-black cave. He tugged the amulet out from under his shirt and the dim light it gave off was enough for him to see by.

The cave narrowed quickly and soon became nothing more than a stone staircase leading down." Not yet. Got to see if anyone survived the night," Roan thought to himself, retreating back to the front of the cave and the small fires and defensive lines that kept their retreat secure.

"Everyone ready to go?" Roan asked loudly, gathering their attention as he stepped to the front of the cavern. He had about two-dozen people ready to go with him, gathering their bags up and lifting their weapons. At this stage of the tower everyone had something decent for weaponry. Little to no armor or extras though.

"We're going to go while it's still dark?" someone asked, shifting nervously. Roan checked the timer and saw they had twenty minutes left of night before it shifted.

"I want to be moving the moment the night ends. We might catch some of the goblins retreating, just stick together in a tight group and we'll be fine," Roan told them.

"The goblins aren't a problem," somebody muttered, but they were quickly nudged and fell silent. Roan looked over the group and wondered." We entered just a few days ago and already stratification is happening. Or was it already here? People are abandoning, or at least not focusing, on growing stronger martially. Is this what always happens or is this new?" He wished he could see how the other groups had worked. Did they split up the division of labor to try to climb more efficiently?

Did they all become skilled at everything? Trying to master every skill and become armies of one? Or did they have to deal with people like Grace and Nash, forced to fight constantly among themselves while the tower crushed them?" Could always ask Hana. Doubt the rules will let her help us out though." Roan leaned against the wall, watching as the minutes trickled down. His stomach rumbled and he patted it, thinking of the steak waiting for him."

Will need to find a more secure line of food if my body has become more mana oriented. If we go to the next level and have to find the saferooms again I'll be screwed. Buy up a bunch of ration packs and store them." He continued to order and build a mental list of needs and wants that had to be taken care of before he could go to the next level.

"Sun's rising," someone said, drawing Roan's attention out of the cave and toward the brightening sky. He checked the timer and frowned. It shouldn't be rising yet, they had another ten minutes. A concussive blast of wind swept toward them, shaking the trees and sending branches flying. Roan smelled the burning of wood on the wind, carried from wherever the blast had originated from.

"That's not in the direction of the villages, is it?" Billie asked nervously.

"No. Well, I think I know what we're going to be doing. Everyone get ready to move, we're going to haul ass to the village and take anything that's not nailed down. Food, water, anything from the market, we don't know when we might get the chance to use it again," Roan ordered. He put his polearm on his shoulder and started out of the cave. He had a feeling that the general had just shown up and he wondered what it would be.

In less than five minutes everyone who was going was packed up and moving, heading quickly toward the village to see how the night had ended for the rest of the climbers.